Before Monday, the NFL refused to disclose the name of Saints bounty whistleblower Mike Cerullo, keeping his name concealed despite relying on the evidence he provided in suspending four players. On Monday, the NFL decided to disclose a sworn statement signed by Cerullo in May 2012, necessarily shedding his anonymity.

The league has issued a statement indicating that it was Cerullo’s idea to allow his name to be disclosed.

“Mike Cerullo should be commended for coming forward,” the NFL said. “The information and detail he provided was credible and has since been confirmed in numerous respects both by other witnesses and by supporting documents. It is unfortunate that some have sought to unfairly attack his integrity rather than give attention to the substance of his declaration.”

But if Cerullo’s sworn statement is completely credible, a portion of former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams’ sworn statement necessarily isn’t. USA Today has links to both of the statements, and the most glaring discrepancy arises from Cerullo’s contention that he gave Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma’s $10,000 postseason quarterback bounty prize to Williams for safekeeping; Williams says he never saw a dime of it. Likewise, Cerullo says the offer was first made before the 2009 divisional playoff game between the Saints and the Cardinals, with quarterback Kurt Warner being the target — and that Vilma then reiterated the offer before the game against the Vikings and quarterback Brett Favre. Williams makes no mention whatsoever of Vilma making any offer prior to the Cardinals game.

From Vilma’s perspective, the fact that the NFL is trying after the record of evidence was closed in June to bolster its case should be troubling. But the reality is that, if/when Vilma is suspended, a new appeals hearing will be conducted before Commissioner Roger Goodell. At that time, Cerullo and Williams will have to testify — and lawyer Peter Ginsberg will have an opportunity to eviscerate both of them.

It’s no secret — and definitely not news — that Ginsberg has had Cerullo in his sights. Vilma’s July lawsuit challenging his suspension outed Cerullo as the whistleblower, alleging hat the Saints fired Cerullo after he “disappear[ed] from the Club during the 2009 Season and provid[ed] a pretextual excuse that was shown to be inaccurate,” that he “disappear[ed] from the Club during the week leading up to the Super Bowl in 2010, again giving a pretextual excuse that was shown to be inaccurate,” that he received “a cubic zirconia Super Bowl ring facsimile rather than a genuine Super Bowl ring, for which Cerullo has strenuously and vehemently expressed his resentment,” that he “pledged revenge against the Saints,” and particularly against assistant head coach/linebackers coach Joe Vitt. It paints a picture of Cerullo as a many with a vendetta to exact against the Saints, which prevents the possibility of exaggeration or embellishment from being completely disregarded.

Surely, Cerullo didn’t decide out of the blue to allow his name to be tied to the case. The facts and circumstances support a reasonable inference that the league has been trying to persuade Cerullo to morph from whistleblower to full-blown witness, and that the league finally managed to talk Cerullo into fully cooperating once the appeals panel gave the league office a procedural Mulligan. When Cerullo testifies, it’ll be interesting to see what he has to say about why he changed his mind.

EW YORK -- In a sworn declaration presented to former New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma on Monday, former Saints assistant Mike Cerullo provides a few statements about the Bountygate scandal that contradict the declaration made by one-time defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.
In one of the documents, obtained by USA TODAY Sports and verified by someone with knowledge of their authenticity, Cerullo declares he was responsible for collecting the $10,000 Vilma allegedly pledged for any Saints player who knocked quarterbacks Kurt Warner or Brett Favre out of playoff games in January 2010.
DOCUMENT: Gregg Williams declaration
DOCUMENT: Michael Cerullo declaration
Cerullo says Williams made him responsible for tracking all of the offers the players made in a meeting that "got out of hand" before the NFC Championship Game against Favre and the Minnesota Vikings.
Cerullo, who was fired after the 2009 season, says he was the bag man for the money, and he would distribute cash rewards to players, in sealed envelopes, as instructed by Williams during team meetings.
Williams, whose declaration was signed last Friday, claimed he never collected any money to be paid to anyone who knocked an opposing player out of the game.
He also made no mention of a bounty against Warner.
Cerullo, however, claims Vilma's offer initially was made to knock out Warner, as he held up "two five-stacks," which Cerullo assumed meant $10,000. Cerullo says he then picked up the money Vilma left on a table at the front of the meeting room and gave it to Williams for "safe keeping."
There are other inconsistencies, according to the documents: Williams says the pool was created before the season, while Cerullo says it was fed by weekly dues and fines. Williams says the alleged pay-for-perfomance program was already in place and he was asked to join, but Cerullo says Williams basically ran the program.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said, "Mike Cerullo should be commended for coming forward. The information and detail he provided was credible and has since been confirmed in numerous respects both by other witnesses and by supporting documents. It is unfortunate that some have sought to unfairly attack his integrity rather than give attention to the substance of his declaration."
Vilma, aware of the inconsistencies regarding who handled and managed the money, and the conflicting reports on which quarterbacks were targets, used Twitter to make his point.
"Ask the nfl to 'leak' cerullo declaration too," Vilma tweeted Tuesday morning, referring to Cerrullo's statement andinsinuating the league had leaked Williams' declaration on Monday.
Vilma added: "Every1 will have a field day reportinghow their stories don't match."
Cerullo's declaration was signed on May 22.
Cerullo says the pool was funded by weekly $100 dues paid by defensive players, and by fines levied on players for mistakes during games.
Players collected various amounts of money for sacks, interceptions, fumble recoveries and a "Pick 6" -- an interception returned for a touchdown. Players also received cash rewards for hits on opposing players, including "whacks" and "smacks" and "cart-offs" and "knock-outs," Cerullo says.
After each game, game films were reviewed to determine who owed and who would collect money, Cerullo says. Cash payments were made only if the Saints won, and payments were handed out the night before the following game, Cerullo says.
He says, "I therefore witnessed numerous instances in which players were awarded cash by Mr. Williams," including rewards for "whacks," "smacks" and "cart-offs."
Cerullo said that in instances in which players disputed fines and pay-outs, he was considered "the lower-court judge." If an issue couldn't be resolved, it was taken to a "supreme court judge," assistant head coach Joe Vitt or Williams.

Goodell is trying to cover his ass for when Vilma's federal case goes to trial. Williams and Cerullo have already been given subpoena's by Ginsberg. This whole situation should be eviscerated in court by the defense.

Goodell has his hands full with this and the refs. He made this plate, and his ego may have been bigger than his stomach.

I agree with this. I would have more respect for him if he cut the suspensions for all involved and apologized for what happened rather than continuing to try to prosecute all involved by going off the word of a disgruntled former employee.

I agree with this. I would have more respect for him if he cut the suspensions for all involved and apologized for what happened rather than continuing to try to prosecute all involved by going off the word of a disgruntled former employee.

NEW ORLEANS — The NFL on Monday asked a federal judge to block Jonathan Vilma’s demands for evidence in the league’s bounty probe of the Saints, and a magistrate has ordered lawyers in the case to convene in New Orleans on Thursday to discuss the matter.

The league’s latest move was to counter Vilma’s attempt to initiate discovery in his defamation lawsuit against Roger Goodell, which alleges the commissioner lacked sufficient evidence when he publicly prejudged the Saints linebacker as the ring-leader of New Orleans’ pay-for-injury bounty system.
The NFL’s motion argues that discovery is premature because another motion to dismiss Vilma’s lawsuit is still pending.

The league said Vilma’s lawyer, Peter Ginsberg, has this month subpoenaed the NFL, Goodell, NFL investigator Joe Hummel, former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and former Saints assistant Mike Cerullo.

Ginsberg has demanded documents and sought to schedule depositions, including a deposition of Goodell on Oct. 23.

Goodell initially suspended Vilma for the entire 2012 season after concluding he helped organize a bounty pool that league investigators have said the Saints ran for three seasons from 2009-11.

The suspensions of Vilma and three other players have since been vacated on technical, jurisdictional grounds by an appeal panel operating within the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement. That decision has led to the re-instatement of the four players and has forced Goodell to begin the disciplinary process for the players over again.

Goodell last week met with Vilma as well as Saints defensive end Will Smith, who had been suspended four games, and free agent defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove, who had been suspended eight games.

Cleveland linebacker Scott Fujita, who had been suspended three games, had a meeting scheduled last week, but it was postponed.

Goodell has not yet handed down new punishment in the matter, and it is not clear when that will come.

In addition to fighting their previous suspensions through procedures called for by the NFL’s labor agreement, the four players have also sued in federal court in New Orleans. Vilma has his own attorneys, while the NFL Players Association has represented the other three. Only Vilma has sued for defamation. The other federal claims, made by all four players, generally state that Goodell violated labor law by failing to act as an impartial arbitrator. They also ask the judge to bar the commissioner from punishing the players in the bounty matter.

U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan, who is presiding over the consolidated federal cases, has indicated that she is concerned about whether she has jurisdiction to rule in the matter while the process governed by the NFL’s labor agreement is still playing out.

When the appeal panel vacated the four players’ suspensions on Sept. 7, Berrigan issued an order saying she would take no action on pending matters “at this time.”

It was after that order that Vilma’s attorneys began sending out subpoenas demanding documents and depositions related to Vilma’s defamation claims. Ginsberg has asked to depose Williams on Oct. 15, Cerullo on Oct. 9 and Hummel on Oct. 16.

Williams and Cerullo have provided the NFL with signed declarations in which they stated that they observed Vilma offering what they believed were $10,000 rewards for knocking then-Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner and then-Minnesota quarterback Brett Favre out of 2009-10 playoff games.

Williams, hired by St. Louis coach Jeff Fisher last winter, is suspended indefinitely from the NFL. Cerullo has not worked in the NFL since being fired by the Saints in 2010. He recently worked for the Connecticut football program, and his recent declaration stated he now is director of football operations at Princeton.

It just doesn't sound plausible that an NFL player, (dudes who are notoriously cheap unless it's for bling or a new whip), coming up out of their own pocket TWICE with 10 Gs for someone else hitting a QB during a game.

This whole entire case falls apart if IMO you can't identify who it was Vilma allegedly paid. If the payee denies it and there's no proof such a transaction took place other than total hearsay, then Vilma is being railroaded.

Just because a player gets a big mouth in a closed door team meeting and shouts, 'I'll pay $50 Gs to the next MFer who knocks out Tom Brady," doesn't mean that's actually what happened.